I think our country would be better served by teaching kids that this girl might be the exception to the rule in America now, but she doesn't have to be. There is no reason that more American teenagers can't achieve just as much before they turn 18.

George Washington had mastered growing tobacco, stock raising and surveying by the time he was in his early teens. At 16, he traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia’s western territory. At 17, he received an appointment as official surveyor of Virginia's Culpeper, Frederick and Augusta counties. He then went on to lead America to a hard fought victory in the Revolutionary War and became the first (and arguably still the greatest) President of the United States.

John Paul Jones began working as a cabin boy at the age of 12, and became first mate at the age of 19. He took command of his first ship at the age of 21. He then went on to help found the US Navy.

Ben Franklin was apprenticed as a printer at the age of 12 and, as a 17-year-old self-taught writer, began printing his own essays under the pen name of "Silence Dogood" that were so ingeniously written, his own family didn't realize he was the actual author. He started his own business at the age of 18. He went on to become on of our most famous Founding Fathers and a distinguished man of science.

I think one of the reasons that today's teenagers are so rebellious is because they are molly-coddled for too long. They have almost no responsibilities, no accountability, no sense of consequences, and they are taught that life is for just sitting back and having fun until they graduate college - because that's when all the adult responsibility kicks in, never before. However, I think kids need to be given responsibility and treated like adults as young as 13. Of course not every 13-year-old can handle it, but I know 21, 30, 40 and 50-year-olds who can't handle responsibility. Although, I think enough teenagers will not only be able to handle it, but actually thrive on it, and we will see a dramatic turn around in the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in this nation.

Early America school system ( after the war about the time of Jefferson)actually took only the best of the best and the others were required to become trade apprentices. So Preachers, doctors, lawyers were hand picked and the rest were sent to shop class. Just imagine if we did that today. Kids who were bright and could excel were pushed. Kids who were Kardashians were sent to learn a career. The public school system today is severely flawed. This is why other countries beat us in science, math, etc etc.

Early America school system ( after the war about the time of Jefferson)actually took only the best of the best and the others were required to become trade apprentices. So Preachers, doctors, lawyers were hand picked and the rest were sent to shop class. Just imagine if we did that today. Kids who were bright and could excel were pushed. Kids who were Kardashians were sent to learn a career. The public school system today is severely flawed. This is why other countries beat us in science, math, etc etc.

I believe most kids in those days were home-schooled as well, not processed through a government-run public school system like cattle.

Ben Franklin was also a self-taught writer. So there is something to be said for ambition.

I think parents need to instill in their kids an intrinsic motivation for achievement. Simply upping the pay scale of certain jobs only creates extrinsic motivation.

For those who might not be familiar with the differences. When someone is extrinsically motivated to do something, then they are only doing it to receive some kind of external reward (like a big paycheck). When they are intrinsically motivated, they do it because they love it and the satisfaction they get from the action itself is all the reward they need.